Power

You want what for Christmas?
Hell no
What chu mean this is all we got?
That's it...

It's Christmas time in the Montgomery home
Daddy's actin' all crazy again
Momma got herself a bloody nose
Daddy slapped her in the face again
Why they always gotta fight so much? damn
Momma face swole
Me and my bros in a panic state
If thats the case, yo I can't just stay around this
Everything was fine, we just had dinner
We got all the He-Mans
Battle Cat, Adam and Cringer, even Castle Greyskull and Snake Mountain

Now we sit and listen to y'all argue about how y'all planned this day
And y'all just admitted to us Santa fake
So Kid Vishis just ran away poutin'
Now I gotta go and console him
He wasn't nothin' but a spoiled little boy then
Little naive with an innocent cry
All he ever wanted to do was fit in with us
And y'all bought him a pair of fake
Timberlands and put in a real Timberland box
I never forget them boots, they was called Rugged Outbacks

Momma went and found them at Payless
and made us promise not to say nothin'
Then Pop came in like he ain't know nothin' about it
Like, "Judy you gon' send that boy out in public like that?"
"He'll be just fine,
these kids ain't 'bout to be looking down at his feet for no treat"
And she really meant that
Meanwhile, this little arrogant nigga called himself stuntin'
on me and Greg with him talkin' about, "where your Timbs at?"
But he was too young to detect sarcasm so
we was like, "nigga, where your Timbs at?"

It's Thanksgiving in the Montgomery home
Greg just came in here drunk again
Now Momma tryna' cover for him,
she afraid my Daddy gone punch him again
Why you gotta get drunk so much? damn!
I wish you would just stay where you was at instead
of coming home all rude and disrespectin' all our father
Follow all the rules and shit, man

The mood done switched me and Vicious playing Connect Four
Our Favorite movie just came on the
tube and it's ironic it's Bloodsport
And I'm looking at Frank Dux and shit, thinkin' you should split
Before Daddy come down these stairs
of this basement and see you wasted
But he just cut me off like, "That nigga ain't gon' do shit"

But the truth is he couldn't whoop my dad even if he was sober
I know 'cause he tried once
Ended up unconscious, a broke arm and a tooth was chipped
My big bro got a lot of emotional problems
He feel that we was all abused as kids
He saw Momma get dragged down all kinds
of stairs like a ragdoll when he was two

And this is back when Daddy used to sniff cocaine, poor thang
He had to be subjected to this when he gets drunk
He gets to losing it
He gets the illusion that he gon' protect us all from the Big Bad Wolf
Stand up to him and prove some shit
But all he really doing is stressing Mom out
Gotta her goin', "boy you know your daddy up there asleep
The food is ready,
why don't you stop making all this noise and let him stay sleep?"

The Turkey's done in the Montgomery home
Dad has just been awakened again
Greg is making all kinds of noise
Daddy's on his way angry again
"Who is that making all that God damn noise?
Greggy, get up here!
You been out there drinking again?
What the fuck I tell you about coming in my house
with this disrespectful shit?
Nigga where the fuck you don' been?"

I'm thinking to myself Greg please don't say nothin' stupid, man
Every time my Daddy in his drawers
and he standing in the hallway mad at somebody,
I swear to God he got the same strength as Superman
My brother turned around and just walks in the kitchen
Without even givin' an answer, with his back to him like
"I ain't gotta talk to you nigga"
"Nigga, you don't hear me talking to you?"
Next thing my brother did is something
that when it comes to my father is something you just don't do
He looked him right in his eyes and he asked him,
"what the fuck is you gon' do?"

My father hit him so hard his body hit the stove
The oven door hit the fucking floor
The turkey fell out the oven whole and landed near the stairs
Now Daddy standing over Greg talkin' 'bout,
"Nigga, you ain't hurt!
Get up, get up!"
And here come Vish' talkin' 'bout,
"Dad, I don't think he gon' get up"
Then Momma went damn near hysterical
She called the police, the police came
Neighbors is all in the street
watching the cops takin' my father out in handcuffs
Damn, man that shit was real embarassing

To all my friends I grew up with or grew up fatherless
I know through me you live vicariously
I want you to know that we ain't no better
than you and yours
We all needed therapy
We care about each other more than
we care about if anybody understands us
What I'm tryin' say is "fuck you!
" and Happy Holidays from the Montgomery family

Every man reaches that point in life
Where he don't want to make excuses no more more
Life took me on a rollercoaster ride
I've been up I've been down all the ribbons
and my daddy came

Took me on highs
Turned around and then took me on lows
Oh
Then I think about it
I use that shit as fuel
Then I changed it into "power"
Now can't you feel it?
Can't you feel it?

That I'm a grown man with "power"
Yeah, let me hear you say yeah
If you was raised in a strict home like me
Felt alone like me and it gave you "power"

Oooh
You can do it too just look at me
See I'm a grown man with "power"
Yeah, everybody say yeah
If you don't know the meaning of abusive
You've been through so much
ain't nothing nobody can do to you

Now can't you feel it?
I'mma run away
This is how I became
A grown man with "power"

You can do it too
If I can do it
Use this "power"

I was a runaway
I was a runaway
There ain't nothing you can do to me
Do to me

"When you were a child growing up with grandad and granny
Did you really feel like grandad was a good father to you?"
Absolutely, absolutely.
All my friend's daddy's was walking out on them left and right.
Y'know he never left us, he was always there for us.
Y'know there were a lot of things that happened
that I didn't understand.
Maybe I might not have answered the
question the same way when I was a teenager,
but I understand and appreciate him so much more now:
as a man.
Y'know 'cause he taught me respect and discipline
and consequences for your acts.
So yeah of course

"Do you think his approach as a father
really shaped the type of father that you are today,
or do you in some ways think it had negatives to it,
and if so, what kind of negative traits
do you try to avoid having as a father right now, to me?"

When you have your own you'll understand